A great variety of fishing lures of the prior art include spinners, that is, generally spoon-shaped devices which rotate on the lure, usually about a spindle extending along the principal lure axis. Such devices are usually referred to as "blades" or "spoons," but will be referred to herein as "spoons" or "spinner spoons."
In lures of this type, rotation of the spoon about the spindle as the lure is drawn through the water has a natural tendency to rotate the entire lure, causing twisting of the fishing line to which the lure is attached. This line twisting is very objectionable, especially when light monofilament line is used. Line twisting can become so severe that it can tangle the line on the reel holding such line, ruining any attempt to cast the lure.
Much effort has been expended to develop simple and effective ways to eliminate or reduce the line twist problem. Rotatable attachment of the spoon to the spindle by means of a U-shaped clevis reduces line twist problems to some extent by permitting the spoon to rotate more freely about the spindle than when other kinds of attachment loops or mechanisms are used. But frictional forces between the clevis and spindle are frequently still large enough to cause the entire lure to revolve and twist the line.
Because of the twisting problem, keels or vanes have been affixed to the spindle of the lure to prevent the spindle (and most of the lure apparatus) from rotating as the spoon rotates freely about it. A variety of keels have been used, including keels referred to as zero-point, one-point and two-point keels. Keels are made in a variety of ways, using a variety of materials, and with or without weights.
In a two-point keel, the spindle of the lure is attached to one point of the keel, which usually has a swivel, and the fishing line is attached to a second point. With one-point keels, the line and spindle are attached to the keel at the same point or the line is attached to the spindle with the keel attached to the body of the spindle. In a zero-point keel, the spindle is attached to the keel, but the fishing line is not connected to either the spindle or keel, but instead is attached to a wire which passes through the middle of the spindle.
Zero-point and two-point keels tend to be effective in eliminating the line twist problem, but they are undesirable because of a heaviness and bulkiness which reduce the ability of such lures to attract and catch fish. The small, streamlined design of one-point keels in many cases makes one-point keels the most desirable keel form for use in eliminating line twisting problems. The common single-wire construction of such one-point keels also makes them inexpensive. Such construction forms not only the keel, but also the line-attachment loop and the spindle, which of course supports the rotating clevis and spoon and most of the other elements of the fishing lure apparatus.
However, such one-point keels of the prior art have significant problems and drawbacks. Such prior one-point keels, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 11, while structurally simple and inexpensive because of their use of a single wire, are structurally weak. They have a tendency to come apart, that is, to unravel when strains or forces are applied or when obstacles are encountered during fishing. The intended positional relationships of the keel and the spindle and of the keel and the line-attachment loop can tend to collapse during use, causing significant problems in operation and shortening the useful life of such devices.
Weight-forward lures with weighted keels are often desirable because they allow spinning while sinking in the water. However, many weight-forward lures of the prior art are particularly susceptible to entanglement of the line with the hook during casting. There is a need for an improved weight-forward lure minimizing such line entanglement problems. It would be desirable to have a simplified weight-forward lure, particularly one using a simple single-wire one-point keel.
There is a need for an improved keel construction for fishing lure--one with an improved keel configuration which, while simple in structure, would provide improved structural strength. An improved keeled fishing lure is needed which will provide improved resistance to line twist without disturbing the fish-catching qualities of the lure. A single-wire one-point keel which forms a strong structure and framework for a complete lure would be very useful. An improved keeled lure construction which operates well with a clevis and spinner spoon would be particularly desirable.